When video rental stores first began operating, the merchandising format used was a "fetch system". In a fetch system, empty display boxes are exhibited on shelves and a customer selects a title by physically bringing the empty display box to a clerk at the check out counter. The clerk then "fetches" the cassette of the selected title from a secure location where the actual cassettes are kept and delivers it to the customer. While this format has high security, it is not appealing as it increases labor and time to provide a customer with the cassette of the selected title and requires expanded inventory space to store separately the cassettes and empty display boxes.
To solve these problems, the merchandising format for video rental stores has changed to leave all the cassettes out in the store "live"; i.e. the cassettes are left in the displayed boxes. In such a "live" video rental store, a customer selects a title and brings the display box, with the cassette inside, to the check out counter. Thus, the live merchandising format decreases cost by saving on labor and time, and reducing the amount of inventory space. To provide security against pilferage in a live merchandising format, video rental stores usually place a security strip on the cassette, or on or in the display box. However, if the security strip is placed on the cassette, it must be positioned so as not to interfere with the operation of a video cassette recorder. When the security strip is in place, an alarm will sound if there is an attempt to conceal the item when leaving the store with a customer. This has been found to be quite successful in preventing pilferage so long as the security strip is in place. However, the security can be bypassed by removing the cassette from the display box when the security strip is in or on the box, or "peeling" the security strip from the cassette. While theft of cassettes does occur in this manner, the problem has not been serious since it is believed that most customers consider the size of the cassettes to be too large to be easily concealed.
Recently, rental of video games has become a substantial part of the business of video rental stores. These video games are packaged as a cartridge having a particular shape depending upon the brand of video game machine for which it is designed. It has been found that when a live merchandising format and security strip are used for video game cartridges, substantial pilferage occurs. This is believed to result from the fact that a video game cartridge is substantially smaller than a video cassette and therefore, more easily concealed. When the security strip is placed somewhere on or in the display box, it is quite easy to steal the video game by removing the cartridge from the display box and then concealing it while leaving the store. The same is true when the security strip is placed on the video game cartridge since the security strip can be "peeled" away. As a result, most video rental stores keep video game cartridges in a secure place, separate from the display boxes. This means that the stores have returned to the old "fetch system" which requires increased inventory space, labor and time. In addition, the "fetch system" is contradictory to the live merchandising format for which the video rental store is usually set up.
Even more recently, video games have been marketed on compact disks (CDs). If a live merchandising format is used for the CDs, then the security strip must be placed on or in the display box since a security strip cannot be placed on the CD itself. As a CD is even more easily concealed than a video game cartridge, video rental stores have been forced to use a "fetch system" for video games on CDs to reduce pilferage.
Since the quality of playback for video on a CD is superior to that on a tape cassette, it is anticipated that most movies will eventually be marketed on CDs. Thus, video rental stores expect that a large portion of their inventory will be made up of CDs. Accordingly, there is a need to provide protection for video game cartridges and CDs without increasing inventory space, labor and time.